chapter0

  Standing erect in the centre of Continent Tarones, the Enochian Tower was the focal point of wars in which thousands of monsters resided. Since the monsters had taken the lives of countless climbers, citizens always kept their distance from the Tower.

  But now a slender lady, Tawil, slowly approached the entrance of the Tower, holding nothing but a wand in her hand. Her ethereal face was so charming that even time could have stopped for her. 

  “Roar!” The monsters near the entrance assembled and attacked Tawil mercilessly as soon as they saw her, but Tawil remained fairly calm. With the mere movement of her fingers, the elemental luster drew a sparkling rail in the air and released tremendous waves of attacks. Almost effortlessly, the monsters were all defeated.

  Killing more monsters as she advanced, Tawil came to a split road eventually. She stood still and took out a bag filled with golden sand. Then, she sketched a complicated magic circle with the sand, and stood in its centre with her eyes closed.

  “To souls that are drenched in elements, I am summoning you with a call from the ancient times to come to the shore of the origin.”

  Brilliant beams of light blossomed in the magic circle, illuminating the dark tower as if the sun was shining. As the brightness gradually receded, the remaining sparks drifted vaguely in the air, resembling the faint stars in the dark night sky.

  “Where are they… Ah, right there.” Tawil searched in the vagueness and soon found 5 specks of light which were particularly shiny.

  Tawil grasped the specks in her palms. Each of 5 specks exhibited a color of an element. They were all of the size of a fingernail, except the red one, which was smaller by half.

  “Come, the souls that fused with the elements. Devour the power of creation, and restore your true forms.” Tawil murmured, pouring the full power into her palms.

  The specks of light grew bigger and their colors became more saturated. Eventually, they flew away from Tawil’s palms and assumed their human forms— They were the celebrated heroes of Grand Sage Molly, Dragon Rider Sean, Land Overlord Duncan, Duke Nathaniel and Deathwhisperer Endor. 

  “This is...” Endor examined her hands, which had just turned physical, in mild confusion. Then, she turned her gaze to Tawil and blinked emotionally as she came to realize what was happening, “It was you who summoned us.”

  “Yes. Your souls are fused with the elements, enabling me, who controls… no, who connects with the elements, to revive you with a little power—”

  “Shash!”

  Tawil had hardly finished her speech when a scarlet sword thrust towards her. The sword was stopped halfway by Tawil’s elemental shield. 

t\tBut Sean was too angry to let go. He insisted on pressing the sword as he glared at Tawil and growled, “How dare you revive us!”

  “Sean, calm down.” Molly held his arm and tried to stop him, who was unmoved and continued his accusation, “How could I calm down! If it wasn’t for her, we and the world wouldn’t have suffered like this!”  

  “I… didn’t do anything.” Tawil said motionlessly.

  “Exactly. It’s because of your inaction and nonintervention that those guys could do whatever they desired to turn the world into what it is today.”

  “For me in the past, the death of all lives is equal, except for Him. All of you should’ve known that, because you’ve been fused with the elements.”

  “You—” Her reply irritated Sean even more. As he pushed away Molly’s hand and was about to launch an attack, Nathaniel pressed his hands down again. Sean had no choice but to repress his anger.

  “So what are you reviving us for?” Nathaniel wondered.

  “I need your help. Please guide their way for me.”

  “Why us?” asked Duncun.

  “...Only you can bypass the existing surveillance through the elements.”

  “What made you change your mind? I thought you didn’t want to interfere?” asked Molly.

  Tawil remained silent, but something rippled on her expressionless face.

  Molly and the others exchanged a glance. They knew each other so well that their thoughts were perfectly understood by each other before a single word was uttered. At last, Molly said on behalf of the group, “We’ll guide them. However, we’re not doing it because of your request, but because of our determination in protecting this land.”

  Tawil nodded and said nothing more. By the time she left the monstrous tower and headed home, the sun had already gone down. The sky had turned completely dark when she arrived, only the stars were still shining.

  “Hmm… Why is there smoke?” Catching sight of the smoke which was belching out from the chimney, Tawil knew that someone must have started a fire in the house. She opened the door alertly—

  “Bop!” Confetti and colored ribbons fell all over Tawil with a blast, leaving her too surprised to make any reaction.

  “Happy birthday!” said the black-haired girl as she squeezed herself into Tawil’s arms and rubbed her head against her affectionately.

  “Mother, happy birthday.” The black-haired boy came with a cake. A broad smile spreaded over his youthful face.  

  “...Enoch and my little one, why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be in the magic academy?” Tawil asked as her train of thoughts resumed.

  “Because it’s your birthday today, of course brother and I should come back and celebrate it for you. We’ve already learnt what the academy is now teaching, anyway.” The girl smiled cunningly, “We’ve even prepared a lot of delicious food for you!”

  “I was the one who prepared them.” Enoch corrected her mockingly. The girl made a funny face at him and asked Tawil, “Mother, are you happy? Are you surprised?”

  Giving her a barely detectable smile, Tawil touched their earlobes and said gently, “Yes, I’m really happy. Thank you.”

  Then, they sat down at the table and enjoyed their meal in chatters. The girl was very eloquent, but Tawil listened with great patience. Perhaps the two children were too tired from all the preparation that they fell asleep soon after the meal.

  Tawil wrapped them with a quilt. As exhausted as she was, she didn’t feel like sleeping at all. She stayed on the balcony and looked far into the distance. The world was silent, only the shimmering stars were talking to her.

  “The time has finally come, the idle gears shall rerun. This time, I’ll be the one to save you, another me in the world… Huh? Am I crying?”

  Teardrops fell from the corner of her eyes. Tawil was quite surprised as she struck her tear-streaked cheeks. Looking at Enoch and his sister, her expression was indecipherable as she muttered, “... Is it because of them… I must’ve been with them too long that I’ve forgotten the meaning of my own existence...”

  “Perhaps miracles can only be created by infinite misfortunes, but I’m still hoping for it to come so fervently...”